Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Playing Games with Lily: Lego Batman 2

We picked up Lego Batman 2 because we had so much fun with Lego Harry Potter. My friend Eric had mentioned that the game was very nearly the Lego Justice League, and, after playing it, I'm inclined to agree.

My friend Frederick had played previously. He mentioned that whenever you fly with Superman, the John Williams theme plays. (He also moves his arm to turn.)

I think, though, the memory that sticks with me is going to be my daughter, playing Wonder Woman, running around and beating up the other Justice Leaguers and saying things like "I'm a Princess! Treat me with respect! Treat me like you'd treat your boss!"

Like any Lego game, it has a zillion characters to unlock. This looks like a job for "J'onn J'onzz, Catwoman and...Captain Boomerang!"

"To the J'onzzmobile, old chum!"

The puzzles are a touch more difficult than in Harry Potter, occasionally made frustratingly so by the camera angles obscuring a neccesary component. The controls however, are top notch. Superman, in particular, is a lot of fun to play. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the best video game incarnations of Superman.

His heat vision is SO MUCH FUN to use and occasionally I get carried away and "accidentally" roast Batman. Nelson laugh! Ha ha!

Seriously though, if the control setup were ported to another game in toto, I would have no problem with that.

The cutscenes are consistently enjoyable and occasionally laugh out loud funny. After completing the game, you unlock free play in Gotham City, where you can run around in an open world, freely switching through any character you've unlocked. Unfortunately, this is the game's biggest failing in my opinion. You can collect up to 250 gold bricks, but most are accessed through jumping games, which I hated in the missions themselves. It's just not fun, and it's a shame that an otherwise really enjoyable game ends on such a sour note.